Before You
by AvocadoOswinn
Summary: The Doctor is tired of looking for the impossible girl who died twice for him. But at the time he has given up, he finds the girl he's had his hearts set on finding... Whouffle AU


**Hey so I was inspired by LadySigh on Tumblr to make this story so I hope you enjoy it!**

 **This is set after the Victorian Clara Oswald died but before he met Modern-Day!Clara.**

 **Enjoy!**

All he ever seemed to get was rain. It had been 3 months and yet he still hadn't found Clara. He was, not for the first time in his quest to find her, absolutely exhausted and unbelievably doubtful. How has he met this girl twice? It wasn't possible! But then- who was he to judge what was possible and what wasn't?

As he sunk his feet into a puddle, he saw a shadow in the distance. He wondered for a second if he should go over and see what was going on. But he decided against it. As soon as he had, he felt thunder rumble around him. The TARDIS cloister bell sounded once, twice... He realised it was because she was completely unshielded and after his last excursion with lightning (and a certain Benjamin Franklin and his kite which gave him rope burns) he was not going to let the TARDIS' circuit get fried by a strike.

He gripped the TARDIS door and opened it, running through and flipping a lever, allowing the TARDIS to keep her shields on. He tapped the scanner briefly to see which year he had settled on. 2021. Lovely. He frowned and grabbed his long woollen frock coat from the coat **rack,** replacing it with his tweed style frock coat. He decided he would need the one he hadn't worn since Clara Oswin had died to battle the cold outside.

As he trudged outside and locked the TARDIS door, he looked over at the shadowed figure. Still there. He looked over at it for a few moments when he decided to go for a brisk walk. After all, he might as well investigate what it was if he was having no luck finding Clara. He took a few steps before wrapping his coat around himself more.

As he got closer to the figure, he realised that it was perched on a bridge. There was a strange noise coming from it. A sniffling noise. Someone- whoever this shadow person was- was crying. He looked over, reaching inside his frock coat for his night vision glasses- so as to see the creature. To his surprise he found a small brunette, in a dress and a leather jacket, leant against the bridge, but stood the other side to the Doctor, as if contemplating whether to jump. The Doctor couldn't see her face properly though. All he could see was her hair and her dress. He gulped, taking the glasses off.

"Don't do it..." He said calmly. The girl jumped slightly, clinging to the stone of the bridge, stood on a platform usually reserved for fishermen who wanted to fish in the stream. She was startled. It was then that a street lamp decided to delight the Doctor with the presence of the light. He looked at the girl. The brunette with brown eyes and a tearful face. Clara...

"Doctor?" She asked timidly, as if she was looking at a ghost. He felt so much sympathy for the girl and wanted nothing more to sweep her into his arms.

"Clara..." He looked at her. He looked dumbfounded. She looked slightly fearful.

"What are you even doing here?" She asked. He looked across at her knuckles, white from hanging onto the wall.

"I came to find you..."

"Why?" Clara looked at him some more, frowning. He touched the wall, gripping it. He looked her in the eyes. She looked older than her 26 year old Victorian counterpart. And her eyes looked so weighed down with sadness that he feared they mirrored his own.

"Because I wanted to find you. I had to. I knew you were still out there..." He said.

"Where have you just come from?" Clara asked, looking down. "Where did you come from to find me?"

"1892. Christmas Day." She looked down, defeated. She turned away from him.

"So you don't know me. You have no idea..." She loosened her grip on the wall. He stepped forward.

"What do you mean?" The Doctor stepped forward again, making sure that his hands were near hers.

"This is the time before you met me. This me. I can't explain this to you. Timelines..." She looked at him.

"Fine... But tell me one thing..." The Doctor started. Clara looked at him with eyes brimming with tears.

"Why are you stood the other side of a bridge about to fall about 15 feet to your death?" He asked. She let some more tears fall.

"Because you left. Because I lied to you. And... You left me." Clara choked a sob.

"I'm so sorry... Why don't you come over the wall and we can have a cup of tea? Yeah?" The Doctor reached for her hand.

"No I can't..." Clara sobbed. She looked back at the water. She felt every last neurone in her brain fighting against the will to jump. She knew that she wanted to... But just the sight of... Him... Made her feel like she should climb back to his side. But instead, he clambered over to her.

"Fine then! I'll jump with you." The Doctor looked at her, gripping both of her hands. "I'll die with you... Is that what you want?" He saw a falter in her stubborn façade. Of course she didn't want to die. She just wanted a way out of the sadness she seemed to be stuck in.

"Go... Please just go away..." She was panicking now. The Doctor smiled.

"I promise you, Clara... If we both climb over the railing- you can have a cup of tea, unload your sadness and I'll make you forget every part of the sadness that seems to be overwhelming you now. Please..." The Doctor pleaded with her, grabbing her cheeks with both hands. She let a few tears fall before she looked down. She refused to meet his eyes as she nodded in defeat. The Doctor breathed a steady laugh.

He clambered over to the other side, holding out his hands for her to grip, which she did. But just before she managed to get over, she lost her footing, falling past the tiny platform. She screamed as the Doctor held her arm, determined not to let this Clara fall and die. He had to save her! He had to!

"Clara, listen to me! Grab my other hand and try to get your footing right! I'll help you get up but you need to help by climbing!" He shouted. She nodded before reaching to grab his other hand. She looked at her feet, swinging her legs so that they collided with the cobbled, uneven stone bridge. Clara breathed.

"That's good, Clara! That's great! Now step up, like you're climbing the side of the bridge!" Clara obeyed, helped by the Doctor pulling her up. Then she found herself obstructed by the small wooden platform. She looked up.

"What do I do?" She asked, as calmly as she could.

"Right, I'm going to pull you up and you need to get your feet up on the ledge, and then I'll help you get over!" The Doctor grunted as he pulled her up, sweating with the exertion. Clara managed to slam her feet on the platform and stand up, hands still in the right grip of the Doctor's significantly larger ones.

"There we go... Now then, hold onto my arms..." The Doctor panted as Clara gripped his elbows, and vice versa, as he helped her to step up and over to the side of the bridge that the Doctor was stood on. He hugged her, panting still from the weight of what he'd just done to help Clara.

"Come on then... Cup of tea in the TARDIS and then you can tell me what's troubling you..." He led her to the TARDIS, his arm around her to make her feel at least a little happier than she did...

 **Hope you enjoyed!**

 **R+R**


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